SCALABLE OPTICAL SWITCHES AND SWITCHING MODULES Russian patent published in 2017 - IPC G02B26/08 

FIELD: optical communication system.

SUBSTANCE: group of inventions relates to an expandable optical switch system based on optical switching device, which are designed in modular form for expansion of switch system in order to achieve required switching for optical communication system, as well as to optical networks, including an expandable modular optical switching capability. Disclosed group of inventions includes an optical switching device with expansion connections, expandable optical switch device, optical ring network and optical switching network node. Optical switching device with expansion connections comprises a photonic integrated circuit, photonic integrated circuit comprising N input optical ports, where N>1, an input light-path associated with each input port, M optical output ports, where M≥1, an output light-path associated with each output port, a bypass optical switch block associated with each output port, P expansion input ports, where P≥1, an expansion light-path associated with each expansion input port and connecting with an associated bypass switch block, a plurality of optical switching elements and associated light-paths forming a network of connections between input light-paths and a by-pass switch block associated with an output light-path.

EFFECT: technical result is providing support of linear expansion of integrated arrays and optical switching modules and enabling expansion for different common optical switching architectures, as well as providing an expandable optical switching systems of linear scalable optical switching modules for any main classes of architectures of an optical switch.

36 cl, 36 dwg